Method of and apparatus for shaking the cotton from napped hats



n Model.)

G. YULE. v METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SHAKINGYTHE COTTON PROM NAPPEDHATS.

Rqjzente d Mar. 14, 1882.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. i GEORGE YULE, OF NEWARK, NEW JEQS\EY.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SHAKING THE COTTON FROM NAPPED HATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 255,094, datedMarch14,1882. Application filed December .21, 1831. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEO. YULE, a citizen of the United States, residingin the city of Newark, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Method of and Apparatusfor Shaking the Cotton from Napped Hats, fully described and representedin the following speci fioation and the accompanyingdrawings, forming apart of the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in processes and apparatus forremoving cotton from the naps of hats; and it consists, first, in animproved method of removing the cotton deposited between the fur fibersby shaking the same in hot water automatically; secondly, in thecombination, with a vibrating shaft, of a series of clamps for shaking anumber ofhat-bodies simultaneously; thirdly, in a spring-clamp;fourthly, in a special arrangement of the plank for removing thehat-bodies from the clamps; fifthly, in mechanism for closing the seriesof clamps'simultaneously; and, sixthly, in means for vibrating the shaftcarrying the clamps.

My invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is an end elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a plan ofthe same with the plank broken to show it in two positions; Fig. 3, asection on linear x in Fig. 2; Fig. 4, an enlarged view of one springclamp; Fig.5, a plan of the locking-wedge with sections of thelevers andscrewbrace, and Fig. 6 an elevation of the left-hand end of the entiremachine above the tank.

A is the tank of hot water, which may be heated by steam or other means,as desired. B B are legs beneath the same; 0, a drivingshaft, shownprovided with pulleys D atone end and a crank-disk, E, with adjustablepin E at the other end.

F F are standards, secured to the ends of the tank on top for carryingthe vibrating shaft G.

H is a slotted arm, secured to the end of the shaftover the disk E andprovided with a pin, 1.

J is a connection between the pins E and 1, whereby the rotary motion ofthe former is transmitted to the latter, which, by reason of its greaterradius, merely vibrates in proportion to the distance ofthe pin I fromthe shaft G.

K is a fixed plank at one side of the tank,

and L a plank fitted to slides M and rollers'N,

upon the inside of the tank at each end, upon the other side. By thismeans the plankLis adapted to slide toward the center ofthe tank atpleasure, to support the hat-bodies when lifted from the hot water, asdescribed herein. 0 is a screw for securing the arm H to the shaft G,and Q a handle fastened to the shaft, forturning the same around toliftthe hats from the hot water when the screw 0 is loosened.

1 P P are the clamps, secured at intervals upon the shaft G, andconstructed with jaws a a for holding the hat-bodies pendent in thewater W in the tank. The shaft G and the clamps are so arranged thatwhen the tip of the hat is held in the jaws the body of thehat isimmersed in the water, while the clamp is above the surface andaccessible tobe opened and closed, as desired.

In Fig. 4 is shown a spring, 0, applied to the jaws for'closing themautomatically and clamping the tip of the hat until released. Apivot, c,is formed on the main partof the clamp above the jaw a, and ahand-lever, d, is pivoted thereto, so as to open thejaw a when saidlever is pressed by the hand. The spring b is shown inserted in a socketin the levers above the pivot, and may be made of india rubber, asshown, or of coiled wire, or a metallic leafspring may besubstituted.With such a springclamp the hat-bodies can be removed and replacedwitlrnew ones by the operator pressing upon them one at a time; andthree clamps thus constructed are shown in the upper part of Fig. 2,turned to one side of the shaft G to permitthe hats to lie upon theplank L. That the operator may be enabled readily to turn the clampsinto such a position one at a time, each clamp may be provided with aset-screw, as shown in Fig. 4, and the shaft G formed with a veshapedgroove to guide the point of the screw to its proper position upon theshaft when turned downward.

S is the set-screw l t, the handle formed on it to turn it without the'aidof a wrench; and T, the V-shaped groove in the shaft G, as shown bya section of the shaft in Fig. 4.

Theends of the jaws are preferably formed with knobs, and may be coveredwith india rubber bottlestoppers, as shown in Fig. 4, to

secure an elastic and griping surface. To fa bodies from the series ofclamps at once I have devised the means illustrated in the otherfigures.

In Fig. 3 is shown, at e, a section of a wedge (shown in plan in Fig.5)inserted between the lever d and the body of the clamp, in place of thespring 1). (Shown in Fig. 4.) This wedge is formed upon a bar, f,extended through all the clamps in similar manner, and provided with awedge to close each jaw a, in lieu of the spring I).

A brace, g, is secured to the shaft G, near one end of the machine, forsupporting the end of the barf, and the end of the bar is provided witha screw-thread, h, and hand-wheel a, by means of which it can be drawnendwise at pleasure and thejaws all looked simultaneously by the actionof the wedges e e.

Aspring,j, is applied to the bar, opposed to the action of thehand-wheel i, and the wedges are therefore simultaneously drawn backwardto release the hat-bodies when the movement of the hand-wheel isreversed for that purpose. When thus released the hat-bodies would, ifunsupported, all fall into the scalding-water in the tank, and it is tosupport the bodies at such time that the plank L is arranged to slidetoward the center of the tank. When provided with the wedges e theclamps are permanently secured to the shaft G by their screws S, so asto be raised and lowered together by the bandle Q.

The operation of the plank is shown in Fig. 3,where the clamps P andhandle Q are shown in dotted lines in the position required for shakingthe hats in the water, while in black lines the clamps are representedturned partly toward the movable plank, so that the hatbodies lie uponthe latter. While in this position thejaws may all be unclamped and thebodies released. New hat-bodies may then be laid upon the plank withtheir tips inserted between the jaws, and the whole of them be clampedsimultaneously by turning the handwheel 1'. During the removal of thebodies and insertion of new ones the clamps are all held in the requiredposition by the pressure of the screw 0 upon the end of the shaft; butwhen thejaws are all tightened upon the new bodies and the plankwithdrawn to the edge ofthe tank the clamps may all be restored to theirinitial position by loosening the screw 0 and turning the shaft by itshandle the required amount. When the screw is again pressed upon theshaft the arm H becomes fixed to it, and the new lot of bodies may beshaken by setting the driving-shaft in motion in the usual way. By thisarrangement the hands of the operator are preserved from immersion inthe scalding-water, as well as from any continued handling of the hotgoods in changing one set of bodies for another in the jaws. After beingheld by the tip and shaken for some time in the water the hat-bodies maybe placed in the jaws in some other position, as by the brim, and thebody shaken again to discharge the cotton from the tip. Two hats held inthis position are shown at theleft side of Fig. 6.

By the above-described method the cotton deposited between the furfibers in the formation of the nap can be as effectually and much moreeconomically removed than by dipping and beating with rods upon a plankin the usual mode.

It is obvious that the shaftG would produce substantially the sameeffect in shaking the hat-bodies, if vibrated endwise, as if rocked toand fro by the arm H in the manner shown. It is also plain that a flatbar or slide of any kind having a vibratory motion could be pro videdwith clamps of any kind to hold the hatbodies and shake them whileimmersed in the water.

I do not therefore limit myself to any particular kind of vibration forthe shaft or its attached clamps, nor to mechanism adapted to vibratethe shaft only in the manner shown in the drawings, as a crank-motioncould be as readily applied to push the shaft to and fro endwise, theessential feature of the mechanism being the combination, with theclamp, of any device adapted to shake the same and agitate the hat-bodyin the water. In like manner I do not limit myself to any particularconstruction for the clamp, as many can be devised to hold the hat-bodywhile being shaken. The clamp provided with a spring, as shown in Fig.4, could be replaced by an eccentric cam controlled by a spring andadapted to pinch the hat tip against the fixed jaw a. A series of clampsthus constructed could be opened and closed simultaneously by connectingall the cams to one shaft and rotating the shaft, when desired, by awheel or worm at one end.

Having thus fully shown the nature of my invention, I claim the same asfollows:

1. The method herein described for removing the cotton from the fur of abat after the same has been stuck and scalded upon a hat body,consisting in hangingthe same in hot water, without any interior cone orother support, and subjecting them to a continued shaking or otheralternating movement to and fro, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a machine for shaking napped hats, of a tank ofhot water, a vibrating shaft or bar carrying a series of clampsforholdingthehat-bodies,andmechanism,substantially as described, forshaking the shaft and clamps, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, in a hat-shaking clamp, of a pair of jaws pivotedtogether, and provided with a spring for automatically closing and ahandle for voluntarily opening the jaws, substantially as hereindescribed.

4. The combination, with a hot-water tank, of a series of clamps securedto a shaft, arranged to vibrate and to turn for lifting the hat-bodiesfrom the water, and a movable plank arranged to slide under and supportthe hats IIO ble crank, as E, and suitable connection to vibrate theshaft radially or longitudinally by the rotations of the crank,substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing wit- GEORGE YULE.

fnesses.

Witnesses 2 THOS. S. CRANE, CHAS. A. MAGLARTY.

